Goodbye Aretha: Name Wiped From Bed-Stuy Station

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Why'd you have to do it?

An MTA worker erased Bed-Stuy's tribute to Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin on Friday, photos show.

Organizers from Christopher Wallace Way BK posted photos of a man in an orange MTA vest wiping away the "Aretha" they wrote next to a Franklin Avenue sign in the Fulton Street station Friday afternoon.

"Up less than a day," the group tweeted, "but RESPECT was shown and Aretha Franklin #Streetart made an impact."

An MTA spokesperson told Patch the sign was not taken down at behest of the transit agency.

"We have no immediate plans to remove these tributes and if an employee did that, it was in error," the spokesman said.

The MTA's initial response to the Aretha signs was, "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

A local artist who declined to release his name added Aretha's name to the Franklin Avenue sign as part of a city-wide subway homage to one of the most beloved names in the history of music, after she passed away on Thursday.

Aretha's name was added to signs on the upper and lower platforms of the C train and shuttle station, one of the artists said, "to show Ms. Franklin some love."

Photo courtesy of Christopher Wallace Way BK/Twitter, used with permission